Destiny or Fate
by taurean
Summary: The San Francisco House struggles with what appears to be one of its member's "legacy." But is it Destiny, or Fate? And will any of them survive?


Destiny or Fate Pt. 1

Disclaimer:

Poltergeist: The Legacy is a registered trademark of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.I do not own Poltergeist: The Legacy or any of the characters created by MGM Television or Trilogy Entertainment. This is my first posted fan fic, please be gentle. I will post more chapters asap.

–Destiny or Fate—

—–

DESTINY—implies something foreordained and often suggests a great or noble course or end.

FATE—implies an inevitable and usually an adverse outcome.

FRIDAY, 3:00 a.m. E.S.T.

He hadn't slept at all on the plane home. The heavy fog in London delayed his departure from Heathrow by four hours. Nick Boyle thought wryly to himself how bad weather seemed to be following him this trip. He'd suffered through severe thunderstorms and consequential mudslides during his weeklong dig in Ireland and now more heavy rainstorms in New York. The rain had caused the automatic breaking systems on the plane to overcompensate, blowing out the left landing gear. By the time the plane skidded to a halt and the passengers deplaned two hours later, the light throbbing in his head had turned into a full-blown headache and his shoulders were tight and his neck was stiff with tension. 'Man,' he thought to himself, 'this week just keeps on getting better.' As he waited for the airline to get him on another connecting flight to San Francisco, having missed his original flight due to the landing delay, he tried to catch a little shut-eye.

Fire. Around him all he saw was fire. He stood there, mouth slack as he stared vacantly at the flames that enveloped what had become his home. 'Derek,' he thought to himself. An explosion shook the ground and he struggled to keep upright. The heat and smoke burned his eyes, 'Derek…oh, God, no.' he thought again. The anger and grief welling up in him, he ran toward the ruins of the castle on Angel Island, screaming his precept's name.

"DEREK!!!" he screamed. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he jumped from a seated position before his eyes could even register his surroundings. As the lights of the airport waiting area came into focus, he was staring into the concerned eyes of both the airline ticket agent he had been talking with earlier and another person he didn't recognize.

"Sir," she began, "are you alright? I think you were dreaming." She continued to look at him steadily, trying to gauge his condition as best she could.

Nick slowly realized he had been dreaming, 'God,' he thought to himself, 'it was SO real.' He was brought out of his reverie by a touch to his shoulder. He blinked a couple of times and saw the face of the man who was with the ticket agent. "Sir, sir," he repeated, the concern growing in his voice.

"I'm sorry," Nick finally stammered, "I guess…" he started fumbling for an explanation that wouldn't make him sound crazy, "too little sleep and a tense landing, I'm just a little out of it." Nick hoped this explanation would satisfy the concern in their eyes and alleviate the tension of the situation. He had slowly realized he was the center of a small circle of attention, thank heaven it was pre-dawn and the airport was fairly deserted. "I'm okay," he stated more confidently as he purposely forced his stance to relax.

"Are you sure, you look a little under the weather," the man explained.

Nick was suddenly aware that his headache from earlier had grown to nearly migraine proportions as he squinted at the glare of the lights in the terminal. "I'm okay, really," Nick began, "it's just been a really long week of traveling. Sorry I caused such a commotion," he finished as he slowly started back to the chair he had vacated so abruptly.

"Mr. Boyle, we're having trouble getting you a flight because of the weather, the airline would be happy to get you a hotel so you could rest properly," she explained, "these chairs aren't exactly built for sleeping."

Nick thought about it for a second as he turned to sit, but decided he wanted to remain in the airport. He suddenly had a deep-seeded need to get back to San Francisco. If he hadn't known himself so well, he would have sworn the feeling was that of panic. "No, thank you," Nick began, "I'd rather wait, I really need to get back as soon as possible." He knew he had to get back to Angel Island ASAP. A sense of urgency growing in him that he could barely contain. He sat gingerly in the chair and noticed they were still hovering.

"Sir, are you sure?" the man asked as Nick slowly nodded. "Then is there anything we can get you?"

Nick thought about that, "No. I'm fine really," he answered with more confidence in his voice than he felt. 'I need to call Derek' he thought to himself. "Do you have the time?" Nick asked.

The man looked at his watch, "It's 3 a.m.," he answered.

"Thanks," Nick replied.

"Please let me know if there's anything I can do, please," the ticket agent offered, "my name is Deborah, please just ask." When Nick nodded his acceptance, both employees turned slowly away and began to walk back to their posts.

Nick pulled the cell phone from his inside jacket pocket, 'it's only midnight back home,' he thought to himself as dialed the house, 'I have to talk to Derek.' He finished dialing and put the phone to his ear. It rang and rang, Nick was about to hang up when Dominic answered, "Luna Foundation," he stated wearily.

Nick immediately felt guilty for disturbing the major domo, but he had to talk to Derek, "Dominic, it's Nick, is Derek around?"

"Master Nick," the man's voice immediately animated at hearing the young man's voice, but he also sensed the urgency in Nick's tone. Dominic had a real soft spot for Nick. Dominic had two grown sons himself, both Derek's age, so he felt a grandfatherly role to the headstrong ex-Navy SEAL who seemed to constantly be taking the physical brunt of the Legacy's battles. He knew Nick would do anything for anyone of the members of the household that Dominic served, and he respected the youth's courage. "I believe he's still in the library with Dr. Corrigan, please hold and I'll get him."

Derek and Rachel were seated in the library discussing their last case over a tray of tea Dominic had arranged earlier. Alex wasn't due back from her seminar in Los Angeles until Monday morning. Kat had already gone to bed in her room upstairs as Derek and Rachel enjoyed a little downtime. Dominic entered the room swiftly, "Dr. Rayne," he began, "Master Nick is on the phone for you sir."

"Thank you Dominic," Derek stood and walked over the desk and put the call on speaker. "Nick, where are you?" Derek knew Nick was delayed leaving London, but he didn't yet know about the misfortune in New York.

"I'm still in New York, rain delays, long story, is everything okay there?" Nick immediately chastised himself for blurting it out like that, but he was having trouble controlling his anxiety coupled with his lack of sleep and growing headache.

"Yes, things are fine here," Derek stated, although his mind was already trying to reconcile the strange urgency in Nick's voice with the question he posed. "Rachel and I were just discussing the haunting in Carmel," Derek began as he looked questioningly at Rachel, she too seemed to be analyzing the conversation, "Nick, is something wrong?" Rachel had risen and walked to the desk and sat in the chair opposite Derek, who had also taken a seat at the desk.

Nick hesitated as he tried to formulate a response to Derek's query, he didn't want to discuss this over the phone and with his outburst still fresh in the minds of the people in the airport terminal, he really didn't relish explaining his dream and feeling of dread in their earshot. "Yeah…I just…it's nothing, I just," he started, 'damn, why won't my brain work?' Nick thought to himself. He became aware of his silence after Rachel's voice roused him from his thoughts.

"Nick, are you okay?" Rachel asked, even over the phone, she could hear the rasp in his voice and the drain in his tone.

'Damn,' Nick thought again, 'now I've done it. Rachel's gonna be all over me now.' "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little out of sorts. You know airline terminal chairs aren't the most comfortable things in the world. I'm just antsy for a flight home." He tried to cover what he knew he'd already let slip and hoped to get Rachel off this trail of his growing concern, "I just hadn't checked in and knew Alex was still gone and you guys working on that case in Carmel and wanted to make sure everything was A-okay there." He was babbling and realized it too late, he was so tired and his head hurt so badly, he could barely think.

Derek picked up on Nick's attempt at cover but also Nick was obviously struggling to allay suspicion and not discuss this over the phone. He held up a hand to stop Rachel's next question as he again spoke, "Nick, when do you expect to be back?" Derek asked shaking his head to Rachel as she indicated she wanted to pursue this further with Nick, 'Later' Derek mouthed.

Nick was relieved, they weren't pursuing it, "I don't know, the rain seems to be letting up, hopefully I'll get a flight out in the next hour, who knows."

"Just call us when you're on your way and tell us what flight you're on, one of us will pick you up at the airport," Derek stated still stifling Rachel's desire to question Nick about this strange conversation and discuss her concerns over how he sounded physically.

"Derek, I can catch a cab," Nick retorted.

"No, Rachel or I one will pick you up, that's an order Nick," Derek stated forcefully.

'Crap' Nick thought, 'I just thought I got away with it' "Okay, whatever, I'll call when I know," Nick replied with a sarcastic bite.

"Good. I'll talk to you later." With that said, Derek clicked off the speaker and leaned back in the chair to meet Rachel's irritated gaze.

"Derek, I wanted to talk to him. He doesn't sound good," she explained, "it would have done him good to stay in New York, get a hotel room and rest instead of hopping on another plane and flying another 10 hours cross country…"

"Rachel," Derek interrupted, "I agree with you that he didn't sound good, but I also detected that there is something obviously worrying him that he called to check on us. He could have information or some other indication that something is amiss. He is returning from London House remember." 

That got Rachel's attention. Since William Sloan's disappearance 2 years ago, Derek stayed abreast of London's activities much more closely. Even though Derek didn't always agree with how William conducted Legacy business, he did know that William's loyalty was all about The Legacy. Derek did not share that confidence in William's replacement and was constantly wary of the Ruling Council's actions. Derek had talked at length with Nick before his departure for London and the Ireland dig about watching for signs of tumult or unrest and to glean as much information as he could, as discreetly as possible.

"Derek, did you send Nick on a spying mission?" the doctor queried the precept. She was well aware of his tendency to act with ulterior motive in mind. She worried sometimes that he expected too much from Nick. She knew the young man's drive and dedication when it came to protecting his "team." The team that had become his family and a place to belong. But, she still worried how he took the weight of the world to his own shoulders and the guilt he took upon himself for those around him. Nick would do whatever was necessary to get the job done, part of his SEAL training. "You know he'd do it without question because of how he feels about what makes a team and loyalty to that team. Derek, with Nick's personality you have to be careful. You and I have had this discussion before," the psychiatrist admonished.

"Rachel, you know I would never knowingly put any member of my team in danger, including Nick, even though I know he can handle himself," Derek explained, "he thrives on this type of mission. Remember Reed Horton?"

"Yes, Derek, how could I forget? You and Nick both almost died. Derek, Nick's got a lot of issues rolling around in that head of his. The Navy was the first place he ever felt he belonged, and when he lost that…well, I just know from the one conversation we had about it, that it cut him to the bone. His faith was shattered," Rachel explained. "I don't know that he's ever truly gotten over it."

"Rachel, I know that as well as anyone. It was that loss that brought him to The Legacy. He's rebuilt that faith, and he and I both agree that we need to insure that those who have faith in this organization can keep that peace of mind," Derek responded. Yes, he and Rachel had had this discussion before. He was well aware of how she kept a wary eye on Nick. She was constantly lecturing Derek about giving Nick assignments that allowed him to feed that need to put himself in danger. The lectures of course did no good, just like they did no good with Nick. But, Derek knew Nick could handle himself. He had overcome the betrayal of his SEAL team in South America. Destroying his former commanding officer, John Richter, had in Derek's opinion, gone a long way to healing that particular open wound.

Rachel, however, was not to be pacified that easily. "Derek," she began again, "has Nick ever discussed the SEAL experience with you? Do you have any idea how that betrayal rattled him? You know, his exact words to me was that 'to make it, you really had to want to be there, and once you made it, you had to believe in the guy covering your back' and he said he just didn't believe anymore." Rachel held up her hand in the same gesture Derek had used on her earlier to silence Derek's protest until she had finished what she had to say and continued, "Have you thought about the danger he would willingly put himself in in order to make sure that never happened again? You know his penchant for action."

"Rachel, I know Nick can handle himself, he always has. It will be fine. All I asked him to do was keep his ears tuned and his eyes open. Remember, his primary mission was the dig in Ireland. He was only in London House for a couple of days," Derek responded.

"What about that phone call Derek, he was obviously anxious about something," Rachel retorted.

"We'll know what he meant when he gets back. It's late, we should retire," Derek stated matter-of-factly as he had decided that the conversation was over. 

Rachel obviously wasn't satisfied, but she was tired. But, she had one more issue she wouldn't be put off on, "Derek, I'm going with you to pick him up, no arguments." She waited for his response.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Good night Rachel." Derek stood and nodded his head to her and left the room.

'He can be so infuriating.' Rachel cursed to herself and then followed him out of the room.

TO BE CONTINUED…


End file.
